Directv service in main house and guest house

[kcd2f]

We just built a home on a 2 acre lot that has a small guest house on the edge of the property. We're thinking of getting Directv HD service. We'd like to have HD service in the main house and are uncertain whether we'll have TV in the guest house.

My questions are:

1) If we order HD service for the main house and later on want to get service in the guest house in SD will that be an issue?

2) because the guest house is far from the main house and we wouldn't want to run a long cable from the main house to the guest house, is it possible to set up an additional SD dish on the roof of the guest house?
2a) For instance we have old SD Directv dishes and TIVO boxes from when we had Directv a few years ago, would we be able to re-use these in the guest house setup?

 

[raoul5788]

First off, to Satelliteguys!

If the address for both houses is the same, then you will probably not have an issue from Directv having service in the two different houses. Because of the distance between them, you are likely better off with a dish on each house. You should be able to reuse the old equipment.

 

[Mr Tony]

Order all the equipment that you think you'll need. Old receivers cannot be activated on a new account

When the tech comes out tell him what you want to do and maybe he'll help. Otherwise just have them install it in the "main" house then move it to the guest house

 

[kcd2f]

So can I use the old equipment or not? If I order new equipment I have to pay for it, whereas my brother owns his TIVO boxes and is willing to let me have them.

 

[Mr Tony]

If you get Choice XTra you get a HD DVR and HD reciever and up to 4 SD boxes free

If you add your bro's Tivo to the account Directv will charge you $20 for an access card. They dont reactivate the existing ones

 

[Jimbo]

I think you ARE allowed to activate old equipment once you have an account in service.
That said, do you really want that old of equipment ?

IF you use the TIVO, you'll need to pay an addl. $ 5 fee for mirroring programing, if you get new equipment you'll pay the same $ 5 as a lease fee.

Personally, I'd get everything you might need on your initial install as you'll get a better deal.

 

[Mr Tony]

But its not on his account at one time. When I wanted to activate a old R15 that I got at goodwill, the rep told me there was a $20 charge for a new card....then they screwed up and added it to the account. When I finally hooked it up, the receiver showed "expired card"...called in and they did activate the "old" card.

 

[Jimbo]

But its not on his account at one time. When I wanted to activate a old R15 that I got at goodwill, the rep told me there was a $20 charge for a new card....then they screwed up and added it to the account. When I finally hooked it up, the receiver showed "expired card"...called in and they did activate the "old" card.

Thats interesting because I have seen some that absolutely will not activate an old card and others will, I do know it has to be the correct generation or you'll need a new card regardless.

 

[kcd2f]

It costs $99/DVR receiver if I were to order it from Directv. I'd rather just pay the $20/access card and use my brother's Tivo. I also don't want to commit to getting all that equipment now (when I'm setting up the main house) because I'm not even sure if/when we'll have the guest house set-up for anyone to occupy.

So just to double check, you guys think this will work: I'm going to have Directv come and set up my main house with HD. Then later if I decide to put SD TV into the guest house then I can just ask Directv for new access cards for the old DVR SD receivers. That should work? If my account uses the HD satellite, will I be able to set-up my SD 3LNB dish to point to that same satellite or will it need to point elsewhere, and would that be an issue for my account?

 

[spaceghost]

It costs $99/DVR receiver if I were to order it from Directv. I'd rather just pay the $20/access card and use my brother's Tivo. I also don't want to commit to getting all that equipment now (when I'm setting up the main house) because I'm not even sure if/when we'll have the guest house set-up for anyone to occupy.

So just to double check, you guys think this will work: I'm going to have Directv come and set up my main house with HD. Then later if I decide to put SD TV into the guest house then I can just ask Directv for new access cards for the old DVR SD receivers. That should work? If my account uses the HD satellite, will I be able to set-up my SD 3LNB dish to point to that same satellite or will it need to point elsewhere, and would that be an issue for my account?

Do you need a DVR in the guest house?
If you get MRV, im not sure if they will let you activate the TIVO on your acct since it will not work with SWM. Maybe someone else can answer that question.

But yes, you get a new card. Throw up your SD dish on the house/property and you're set to go. It will be pointed in the same direction as your HD.

 

[Jimbo]

Do you need a DVR in the guest house?
If you get MRV, im not sure if they will let you activate the TIVO on your acct since it will not work with SWM. Maybe someone else can answer that question.

But yes, you get a new card. Throw up your SD dish on the house/property and you're set to go. It will be pointed in the same direction as your HD.

Kinda where I was going with activating the OLD equipment, he also won't get much HD as I think it's only MPEG2 capable.

 

[texasbrit]

spaceghost mentioned MRV but even if you don't get MRV you probably can't do what you want to do. The problem is that although DirecTV does not object to you having a second dish on the guesthouse, when you have HD installed on the main house the installation will almost certainly be an SWM (Single Wire Multiswitch) system. The old TiVos won't work on SWM, so whatever dish you put on the guesthouse can't be SWM. But then you will be trying to activate an old TiVo DVR on an account that is marked as being SWM, and DirecTV's systems almost certainly won't let you do that. You would need to be activating a D12 receiver, an R16 SD DVR or R2x/HR2x HD equipment for this to be added to the account.

 

[kcd2f]

I have a Hughes Model# SD-DVR120 that I believe is not SWM compatible. I've been reading up on this a little more and was wondering if a SWM-8 would work since it's said to have legacy ports for old receivers. Does anyone know if that would work?

 

[Mr Tony]

something like this will work. But it would be easier (and cheaper) to slap up a 18" dish

 

[kcd2f]

So an 18" dish would support both HD and the legacy boxes?

 

[raoul5788]

The hd box would work, but wouldn't get any hd channels.